Full £31M granted for Selkirk’s flood defences

The Scottish Government has approved Selkirk’s £31.4million Flood Protection Scheme (FPS), which aims to protect hundreds of homes and businesses.

Scottish Borders Council’s funding bid was given the final go-ahead last Thursday, which means the major engineering project is now fully funded, approved, designed and ready to start the delivery stages.

The main works are expected to begin in November 2014, and be completed by December 2016.

The new scheme will remove 595 properties in the Bannerfield, Philiphaugh and Riverside areas from the national flood risk register, by protecting against the effects of flooding from the Ettrick and Yarrow Waters and the Long Philip and Shaw burns.

“This project will effectively remove the risk of flooding for the Riverside area, where the majority of businesses in Selkirk are based, and make it easier for these companies to achieve flood insurance. Hopefully, that can lead to the regeneration of the area and encourage the creation of jobs.”

SBC’s project manager for the scheme, Conor Price, added: “Over the coming months there will be a steady increase in works activity in Selkirk.

“With this in mind we have just restructured the scheme website and created a new page that will provide regular updates through the construction period.”